Country Counting

I’m Terry and I love to travel.

How to deal with airline schedule changes

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Dealing with airline changes can be a nightmare. But on my last trip to Curacao for Thanksgiving, I found out a startling good bit of information.

Here’s what happened. Our original trip was scheduled from Gainesville to Miami on Monday with an overnight in Miami so we could meet up with a friend and have dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab (my favorite all-time restaurant). We would then fly to Curacao Tuesday morning and meet up with my family who arrived on Monday.

Somehow my niece didn’t get the information that we would be a day late and she booked a day trip to Bonaire on Monday. When we found out about that, she tried to change the Bonaire flight online to no avail. So I told her, don’t worry, if you can’t change it when you get there, I’ll just miss that portion of the trip or reschedule for another day.

The night before I was to leave, I went online to check-in for my flight and saw a link online labeled “change flight.” I had never noticed that before, so clicked on the link and found that the flight my family was taking out of Miami was available to me by changing to an earlier flight out of Gainesville – all at no charge.

So, I clicked away, rescheduled the trip, called my friend in Miami to cancel our dinner at Joe’s, cancelled the hotel in Miami and was able to get to Curacao in time to take the Bonaire flight with my family.

I’ve since checked with American Airlines and found you can change flights for no fee if one of the following criteria is met.

  • You have an unrestricted Economy Class (Y fare), Business or First Class tickets
  • You have American Airlines AAdvantage®Executive Platinum status and companions in the same record
  • You are an AirPass member (that’s the lifetime free airline ticket that was once sold for $250,000)
  • You are using First and Business Class award tickets
  • You are using MileSAAver & AAnytime award tickets
  • You have booked Choice Plus fares

In this case, I had booked my ticket withward miles, so I qualified for a same-day ticket charge at no cost.

For a $75 fee on flights between the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and the Caribbean, or $150 on flights between and connecting through New York JFK and London Heathrow, you can confirm an available seat on an earlier or later flight as long as the alternate flight:

  • Has the same origin and destination
  • Is for the same calendar day of departure
  • Is marketed and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle

You cannot change your itinerary to a city with multiple airports or to a different connecting city.

This is a tidbit of information that may come in handy, so remember to check that “same-day flight change” link when you are checking in for your flight. Delta and other airlines have similar same-day change programs with varying fees. Check online under “same-day ticket change and the name of the airline” and you may be able to make last-minute changes for free or a low fee. Happy flying.

 

Here’s an easy way to get a free airline ticket to Europe and back

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If you love getting free airline tickets like I do, you gotta’ take advantage of this deal.

Sign up for the new Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, spend $4000 in the first three months and you qualify for 100,000 miles! That’s enough to get you a roundtrip ticket to Europe and back in business class. Check out the details on one of my favorite sites: www.thepointsguy.com.

And while you’re at it, get another card for your spouse/partner and you’ll score an easy 200,000 points. I usually put my points in United, but there are a number of other airlines to which you can transfer points.

The card costs $450 per year, but you will get $300 in credit, once you spend on hotels or any other travel. That makes the card cost just $150. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime deals, so don’t miss it. The most I’ve ever gotten on a credit card deal is 60,000 miles, so be sure to nab this one.

To Cairo and back for under $400

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I needed a cheap ticket to Cairo. Kelly found a great deal on Delta from Atlanta to Cairo and has never been to Egypt, so decided now was the time. Her fight left at 4:30 am and I told her I was too much of a princess to get up at that hour.

If I could find a cheap ticket, I would go with her. So my search began. Before long, I found business class flights on United for 250,000 miles. OK, I had the mileage, so I booked the flight.

In the middle of the night, I realized I could re-book the flight and have a layover in Istanbul and another in Dublin and spend an extra week on my way home from Egypt.

I had come down with kidney stones a year ago when Kelly and I were in Istanbul and missed my day of shopping at the Grand Bazaar. This was my chance to get back to the Bazaar and find those earrings for my friend, Lora.

I’d never been to Northern Ireland, so why not hop up there from Dublin and get that country. And while I was so close, I could check off Isle of Man and fly down to London to spend some time with my college friend, Diane, who lives there.

How to do all this on the cheap? After studying the United flight schedule, I realized I could fly home from Dublin direct to Orlando on Aer Lingus, a United partner. The flight showed availability in business class. All I needed to do was get from Cairo to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Dublin or Belfast.

With a few internet searches, I found the flights I needed and decided the most economical way to make the trip was to pay for Cairo to Istanbul and Istanbul to Belfast. Both flights were under four hours and both could be had fairly cheaply in economy class. That would give me a business class flight for the long haul from Dublin to Orlando.

I got on the phone with United. You can make a change in a booking within 24 hours, but you can’t do it online. You must speak with an agent.

After two very long conversations with an agent and then a supervisor, I was ready to pin down the details. Then we were disconnected. Errr. I had to call back, do the detestable wait on hold and explain everything again to another agent, who couldn’t figure out how to do what I wanted and another supervisor – only to be disconnected for the second time. Ok, calm down, don’t let United get the best of me. On the third call, I asked for a supervisor immediately and explained how I had been disconnected twice. She took my phone number, I explained what I wanted and she promised to call me back after figuring out how to do what I wanted.

In the end, I re-booked the first flight, got business class from Orlando to Cairo and Dublin to Orlando for only 100,000 miles. I paid less than $387 for two flights – Cairo to Istanbul and Istanbul to Belfast.

Granted, it took a bit of time. But I love using my airline miles to get a bargain and I felt pretty good about this one. I get to spend a week with Kelly in Egypt (and Beirut – we’re doing a one-day dash to Lebanon), pick up my missed time in Istanbul and get two new countries! I’d call that a successful day of booking!

 

 

 

 

What’s it like to fly on a super cheap airline

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My niece, Kelly, called a few months ago and told me she found a super cheap flight to Cartagena, Columbia.

Since I’d never been to Columbia, I said yes, let’s go.

She found a flight for $300 out of Atlanta through Ft. Lauderdale on Spirit (compared to $600+ on other airlines). I’ve flown on Southwest and Ryanair, but never Spirit – an airline that bills itself as the “ultra-low cost airline.”

So how was the flight? Some pros and cons.

For the pros:

  • Cost was half the cost of more traditional airlines.
  • We flew out of Ft. Lauderdale, which was a pleasant change from the crowds of Miami International Airport.
  • The seats don’t recline

    The seats are pretty basic--what I call four hour seats, no more.
    The seats are pretty basic–what I call four hour seats, no more.

The cons included:

  • Lots of waiting in line, because of fewer staff at check-in desks
  • You’ll pay for checking a bag and getting food on the plane – much like most airlines these days. But you’ll also pay for selecting a seat.
  • The seats are so thin that you really can’t get too comfortable.
  • You can’t find Spirit on big travel websites like Expedia or Orbitz so it is a little more challenging to compare prices and schedules.
  • The airplane’s interior is plastered with advertising posters and you’ll be subjected to pitches to sign up for Spirit’s credit card
  • Customer service is non-existent. If you research Spirit online, you’ll find a horrifying list of complaints, delays and poor service.
  • The seats don’t recline

Some tips:

  • If you have a relatively short flight – say less than four hours – you’ll be fine in the seats.
  • Don’t spring for extra cost for the “big front seats.” They are wider, but don’t give you any extra service or amenities.
  • Check-in online before your flight. If you have to print a boarding pass at the airport, you will be charged extra.

Bottom line: if you don’t care about service, delays or comfort – you’ll be hunky-dorey. But if you are on a tight schedule and enjoy a comfortable seat and courteous service, pay a little extra and go for another airline.

Will I fly on Spirit again? If Kelly finds another bargain to a place I haven’t visited – most likely!